Techmeme: Popular messaging app Kik, which grants anonymity to teenagers and predators, is a growing concern for law enforcement (New York Times)

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February 7, 2016, 11:55 AM

Top News

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Twitter's algorithmic timeline is like expanded version of “while you were away” feature, according to users testing it; opt-out is available — Here's how Twitter's new algorithmic timeline is going to work — Twitter went into an uproar Friday after a BuzzFeed report …

Jack Dorsey / @jack:

Jack Dorsey responds to #RIPTwitter, links Twitter's identity with real-time, doesn't deny an algorithmic feed but says there was no plan to launch next week — Hello Twitter! Regarding #RIPTwitter: I want you all to know we're always listening. We never planned to reorder timelines next week.

Chris Velazco / Engadget:

Canonical announces first Ubuntu tablet, the BQ Aquaris M10, features Convergence, letting it act like PC when connected to keyboard, mouse, display, on sale Q2 — Ubuntu's first tablet doubles as a desktop, goes on sale in Q2 — Remember that time Spanish device maker BQ started promoting a new …

More: Ubuntu Insights, The Verge, The Next Web, ZDNet, CNET, PCWorld, Liliputing, TechnoBuffalo, Geek.com and CNXSoft

Glyn Moody / Ars Technica UK:

GCHQ's data-mining techniques revealed in new Snowden leak — Shhh! Top Secret—don't pass it on... (credit: GCHQ) — A “Data Mining Research Problem Book” marked “top secret strap 1” has been leaked that details some of the key techniques used by GCHQ to sift through the huge volumes …

More: Boing Boing, Conspicuous Chatter, Motherboard and iTnews

Tweets: @thegrugq and @dangillmor

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Amazon and other retailers should stop selling cheap USB-C cables with faulty wiring that can damage laptops, and instead demand certification for these cables — USB-C cables are playing Russian Roulette with your laptop — Over the past year or so, one of the biggest tech stories …

More: Amazon.com, Benson Leung, The Register, Engadget, Android Authority, AppleInsider, Laptop Mag, FierceCIO News, Tech Insider, CNET, ZDNet and TechWorm. Tweets: @tha_rami

Mark Suster / Fortune:

Upfront survey of VCs: 91% expect valuations do go down in the first half of 2016, 62% say their portfolios are cutting costs — The State of Venture Capital — There are a lot of data points that one can use to get a sense of the venture capital markets, including the number of startup financings and the level of VC fundraising.

More: SlideShare. Tweets: @davepell

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Twitter says it has suspended 125K accounts for promoting or threatening terrorist acts since mid-2015 — Twitter Steps Up Efforts to Thwart Terrorists' Tweets — For years, Twitter has positioned itself as a “global town square” that is open to discourse from all.

New York Times:

Investors are willing to buy into Morgan Stanley's fund for indirect Uber equity without seeing financial details for company — Deal Shows Investors Are Willing to Make a Blind Bet on Uber — A deal about to close on Wall Street illustrates just how much some investors are willing to give …

More: The Verge, BloombergView.com, Fortune and GeekWire

New York Times:

Popular messaging app Kik, which grants anonymity to teenagers and predators, is a growing concern for law enforcement — Wildly Popular App Kik Offers Teenagers, and Predators, Anonymity — The allegations are beyond chilling: two Virginia Tech freshmen charged with the premeditated kidnapping …

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:

Apple adds server API to CloudKit, unlocking new developer possibilities for the iCloud service — Apple has quietly added a server-side API to CloudKit, following an announcement on the developer news blog. This will enable developers to add a lot of functionality to apps powered by CloudKit …

More: Apple Developer, AppleInsider, Tech Times, VentureBeat, iPhone in Canada Blog, The Next Web, iMore and Engadget

Tweets: @dwsjoquist and @bzamayo

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Alexa voice recognition service on Echo speaker and Fire TV gets Uber ordering, Spotify streaming, and Domino's pizza delivery — Amazon Alexa Can Now Order An Uber From Your Echo Speaker Or Fire TV — It's been a big week for Amazon's connected speaker Echo.

More: Quartz, Uber Developer Blog, PhoneDog.com, Gizmodo, GeekWire, The Next Web, Ubergizmo, TechnoBuffalo, TIME, Mashable, ZDNet, ABC News, CNET, VatorNews, Engadget, Tech Insider, AFTVnews, Tech Times, Fortune, Droid Life, Android Central, WebProNews, SlashGear, Tom's Guide, AndroidHeadlines.com, PhoneDog.com and Re/code. Tweets: @normative

Mark Bergen / Re/code:

John Giannandrea's appointment as Google's search chief shows that AI is key to maintaining Google's dominance in search — Why John Giannandrea, Google's AI Research Head, Will Run Search — As it ballooned, Google's research group has nabbed a shocking number of computing's biggest brains.

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